A Lost Tribe Returns

The Bnei Menashe are a sub-group of the Shinlung tribe, who reside in northeastern India and claim descent from the tribe of Menashe (Manasseh), one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel exiled by the Assyrians over 2,700 years ago. They practice several traditions strongly indicative of Israelite origins.

Last year, at the initiative of the Jerusalem-based organization Shavei Israel, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar formally recognized the Bnei Menashe as “descendants of Israel” and later sent a rabbinical court to India to oversee their process of return to the Jewish people. The court formally converted the 218 Bnei Menashe back to Judaism and had plans to convert more, but Indian politicians objected to their proselytizing, so the court returned home.

Over the past decade, nearly 1,000 members of the community have moved to Israel. Until three years ago, only 100 were allowed to come to Israel each year as tourists, where they would study toward conversion before obtaining Israeli citizenship. But in June 2003, the Interior Ministry decided to freeze their aliyah (immigration to Israel). The move prompted Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund to turn to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, thereby paving the way for the group’s return. Another 7,000 Bnei Menashe remain in India, awaiting permission from the Israeli government to move here.

After accompanying the immigrants home, Freund said, “The aliyah of the Bnei Menashe is nothing less than a miracle. No human being can stand in the way of the divine plan for Israel, and however bleak things might appear to be, we can take comfort in the fact that the return of the Jewish people from the four corners of the Earth continues to unfold.”